Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Disease Control and Healthy culture，College of Fisheries，Guangdong Ocean University，Zhanjiang 524088，China
Abstract: To understand the role of transmembrane Bax inhibitor motif containing 6 (Tmbim 6 gene) in pathogen infection of Nile tilapia (Oreochromisniloticus), the Tmbim 6 gene was cloned, identified and expressed in healthy Nile tilapia (body weight 80-100 g) induced by Poly I:C and Streptococcusagalactiae by quantitative real-time PCR. Results showed that the Tmbim 6 gene had 714 bp ORF encoding a protein of 237 aa, and containing six transmembrane regions and C-terminus motif. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that the Tmbim 6 gene was located in the cytoplasm and Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that over-expression of Tmbim 6 in HEK-293T cell suppressed the NF-κB reporter gene (P<0.01). qPCR analysis revealed that Tmbim 6 was widely distributed in different tissues of healthy tilapia, with the maximal expression level in the liver and the minimal expression level in the head kidney and spleen. Expressions of Tmbim 6 gene were found to be significantly up-regulated in liver, spleen, intestine, head kidney and brain in response to Poly I:C and Streptococcusagalactiae stimulations (P<0.05). In conclusion, the present findings revealed that Nile tilapia Tmbim 6 gene was involved in the cell stress response and immune process in response to pathogen infection.
2023, Vol. 38 
